Modern power systems, such as electric power generation, transmission, and distribution systems, frequently include hundreds or thousands of nodes (e.g., generating stations, transmission substations, distribution switches, etc.). Unlike previous generations of power systems, modern smart grid systems include components that transmit or receive computer-readable information. For example, a recloser in an electric power distribution system may be configured to provide data to a central control station regarding its status (e.g., normal/closed, tripped/open, locked, etc.). The recloser may further be configured to close a tripped or otherwise open circuit automatically or upon receipt of a command from the central controller. Numerous other similarly communicating components may be included in a modern smart grid. In order to properly operate such systems, data regarding the components is communicated between the components and the central node, using wired or wireless communication. Data regarding the current operating status and historical operating status is typically analyzed by power system operators to determine appropriate control, repair, and maintenance actions.
Modern computing technology facilitates the efficient generation, collection, sorting, presentation, and analysis of large quantities of information. To make sense of the information, it is often beneficial to review a number of different data summaries that present the same or related information in different ways. Reports and dashboards are widely used in software applications to summarize and present data in ways that show trends, problems, savings, or other salient features of the data. These reports and dashboards enable users of the software applications quickly and easily to visualize and understand large amounts of data. In some cases, however, it becomes advantageous or necessary to restrict the data used in the summaries to focus on particular areas of interest. Selecting the data to be displayed in a report or dashboard is typically done in one of two ways. First, software developers may create sets of filters or queries for specific reports or dashboards during development of the software application. These filters or queries are simple for the user to apply, but they cannot be revised without updating or reinstalling the software. Second, the software application may permit the user to select data filters for each report or dashboard on an ad hoc basis, providing greater flexibility to set or modify the filter parameters. This approach suffers the disadvantage of requiring the filters to be specified separately for each report or dashboard.